Infusion pump with phase separator
An infusion pump comprising a substance and pushing fluid inlet, a substance outlet, a central chamber communicating with said inlet and said outlet, and injecting means for injecting a substance into a biological object, wherein the infusion pump further includes a pushing fluid outlet in communication with the central chamber in such a way as to allow a pushing fluid to exhaust the pump. The outlet of the infusion pump is advantageously connected to the proximal end of a catheter, the distal end being inserted into the biological object. A sensor, e.g., an optical device, is preferably placed at the outlet of the infusion pump and checks that the outlet is free of gas. The infusion pump is preferably remotely controlled so that it can be placed in limited access locations. It is also preferably computer controlled.
Latest Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPPL) Patents:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/938,193 filed on 16 May 2007, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to injection devices for injecting a substance into a biological object such as a tissue, an organ, an animal or a human being, wherein the substance to be injected is pushed by a pushing fluid such as gas.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONWhen using imaging, tomography or spectroscopy techniques such as magnetic resonance (MR), it is very useful and sometimes necessary to inject a liquid or a colloidal suspension into a tissue, an organ, an animal or a human before, during or after an experiment or an examination. The delay between the preparation and the infusion of the liquid or the colloidal suspension into a tissue, an organ, an animal or a human located inside the imaging, tomography or spectroscopy apparatus is a critical issue when the liquid or the colloidal suspension has short-lasting physical or chemical properties.
A first approach to infuse a liquid or a colloidal suspension with short-lasting physical or chemical properties is to collect the liquid or the colloidal suspension in a syringe and to quickly administrate it into the biological object. This is the way proposed for instance by J. H. Ardenkjaer-Larsen et al. to infuse hyperpolarized liquids for MR investigations (see WO 02/37132). WO 99/35508 very superficially discusses an idea of applying pressure to carry hyperpolarized material from a container to a patient undergoing MR examination. Practically such a procedure is difficult to implement because it requires at least three conditions, namely: a) a high-speed transfer of the material from the preparation apparatus to the imaging, tomography or spectroscopy apparatus (due to the short-lasting physical or chemical properties of the material), b) a relatively slow infusion speed (in order to avoid damage in the biological object), and c) an absence of gas in the infusion line (which could harm the biological object under examination). It should also be noted that if the biological object is placed in a location with limited access such as in a narrow bore MR magnet, a direct infusion with a syringe is hardly possible. WO 99/35508 does not discuss and consequently does not offer a solution to this complex procedure.
An objective of the present invention is to meet the above cited three conditions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis objective is achieved with an infusion pump comprising a substance and pushing fluid inlet, a substance outlet, a central chamber communicating with said inlet and said outlet, and injecting mean-s for injecting a substance into a biological object, wherein the infusion pump further includes a pushing fluid outlet in communication with the central chamber in such a way as to allow a pushing fluid to exhaust the pump.
The outlet of the infusion pump is advantageously connected to the proximal end of a catheter, the distal end being inserted into the biological object. A sensor, e.g., an optical device, is preferably placed at the outlet of the infusion pump and checks that the outlet is free of gas. The infusion pump is preferably remotely controlled so that it can be placed in limited access locations. It is also preferably computer controlled.
Once the required quantity of material has been introduced inside the central chamber 2 and the pressurized gas flow has been stopped, the displacement piston 15 (see
Optionally, to allow for multiple infusions without having to disconnect the outlet line from the infusion port 7, a valve 9 connected to a preferably elastic fixation (e.g. spring or rubber band) can be added at the bottom of the central chamber 2. This valve 9 is forced close before and during the infusion but opens once the piston 15 is lifted. When the valve 9 is open, gas, preferably at atmospheric pressure, enters the central chamber 2 from the gas entry port 10 and prevents the creation of vacuum in the central compartment, which would lead to suction on the infusion port.
The entire procedure is preferably remotely controlled since it might be desirable to place the device in locations with limited access. The entire procedure is also preferably fully automated through computer control. In particular, the introduction of material, and therefore the control of the pressurized gas, should be preferably carefully synchronized with the injection of the fluid at the displacement port 6. Moreover, the infusion should preferably be automatically stopped as soon as the optical sensor 8 has detected air at the infusion port.
The invention is illustrated with reference to the following non-limiting Examples.
Example 1The device can be used to infuse hyperpolarized material into tissues, organs, animals or humans under MR investigation. A catheter or a similar infusion device is inserted into the biological object placed inside the MR magnet. The catheter is connected to the infusion port 7 of an embodiment of the phase separator/infusion pump described above.
An embodiment of a complete assembly is illustrated in
In most cases it is advantageous to place the device as close as possible to the biological object. This imposes some constraints on the materials with which the device is realized. For this particular use, the preferred embodiment of the device is made of plastic materials since it can then be placed in a high-magnetic field environment such as inside the bore of an MR magnet 17. The device is remotely controlled since it is placed next to the subject under examination in a narrow bore MR magnet and it is essentially impossible to directly access it. The procedure is also preferably computer 13 controlled.
The results of an experiment performed in a 9.4T MR imager on a rat after the infusion of a hyperpolarized 13C-labeled acetate solution using an embodiment of the full setup described above is shown in
The device can be used for the infusion of MR contrast agents into a tissue, organ, animal or human installed inside an MR magnet bore. The procedure and the setup are essentially identical to the procedure and the setup described in Example 1.
Example 3The device can be used for the infusion of MR contrast agents following the infusion of hyperpolarized material into a tissue, organ, animal or human installed inside an MR magnet bore. The procedure and the setup are essentially identical to the procedure and the setup described in Example 1.
Claims
1. An infusion pump comprising:
- an inlet for a substance and a pushing fluid,
- an outlet adapted for allowing the substance to flow through,
- a central chamber communicating with said inlet and said outlet, and
- an injecting means for injecting the substance into a biological object,
- wherein said infusion pump further includes a pushing fluid outlet in communication with said central chamber in such a way as to allow the pushing fluid to exhaust said pump, and
- wherein said injecting means include an injecting fluid, an injecting fluid inlet, and a piston, and said injecting means furthermore being in fluid communication with said central chamber.
2. An infusion pump according to claim 1 further comprising a vacuum prevention means which comprise an atmospheric port and a one-way valve located between said central chamber and said atmospheric port, said one-way valve being arranged in a way as to exclusively allow atmospheric air to enter said central chamber.
3. An infusion pump according to claim 1 further comprising an overflow chamber in communication with said central chamber.
4. An infusion pump according to claim 3 wherein both chambers communicate through a channel which forms a slope.
5. An infusion pump according to claim 4 wherein said channel is perpendicular with respect to said inlet for a substance and a pushing fluid.
6. An infusion pump according to claim 1 further comprising a pushing fluid and/or injecting fluid sensor which is located between said central chamber and said substance outlet.
7. An infusion pump according to claim 6 wherein said sensor is a gas sensor.
8. An assembly for injecting a substance into a biological object comprising successively a pushing fluid container, a pushing fluid line, a substance container, a substance and pushing fluid line and an infusion pump as defined in claim 1, each of said elements communicating with its adjacent element.
9. An infusion pump assembly comprising:
- a substance,
- a pushing fluid,
- an inlet for the substance and the pushing fluid,
- an outlet adapted for allowing the substance to flow through,
- a central chamber communicating with said inlet and said outlet,
- an injecting means for injecting the substance into a biological object,
- wherein said infusion pump further includes a pushing fluid outlet in communication with said central chamber in such a way as to allow the pushing fluid to exhaust said pump, and
- wherein said injecting means include an injecting fluid, an injecting fluid inlet, and a piston, said injecting means furthermore being in fluid communication with said central chamber.
10. An infusion pump assembly according to claim 9 further comprising a vacuum prevention means comprising an atmospheric port and a one-way valve located between said central chamber and said atmospheric port, said one-way valve being arranged in a way as to exclusively allow atmospheric air to enter said central chamber.
11. An infusion pump assembly according to claim 9 further comprising an overflow chamber in communication with said central chamber.
12. An infusion pump assembly according to claim 11 wherein both chambers communicate through a channel which forms a slope.
13. An infusion pump assembly according to claim 11 wherein said channel is perpendicular with respect to said inlet for the substance and the pushing fluid.
14. An infusion pump assembly according to claim 9 further comprising a pushing fluid and/or injecting fluid sensor which is located between said central chamber and said substance outlet.
15. An infusion pump assembly according to claim 14 wherein said sensor is a gas sensor.
16. An assembly for injecting a substance into a biological object comprising successively a pushing fluid container element, an adjacent pushing fluid line element, an adjacent substance container element, a adjacent substance and pushing fluid line element, and an adjacent infusion pump assembly as defined in claim 9, each of said elements and pump assembly communicating with its adjacent element and pump assembly.
3727614 | April 1973 | Kniazuk |
5591251 | January 7, 1997 | Brugger |
6650929 | November 18, 2003 | Nemoto et al. |
20020107501 | August 8, 2002 | Smith et al. |
20040019313 | January 29, 2004 | Childers et al. |
20050101934 | May 12, 2005 | Meiser et al. |
Type: Grant
Filed: May 12, 2008
Date of Patent: Oct 11, 2011
Patent Publication Number: 20080287875
Assignee: Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPPL) (Lausanne)
Inventors: Arnaud Comment (Lausanne), Jacques Van Der Klink (Echichens)
Primary Examiner: Nicholas D Lucchesi
Assistant Examiner: Rebecca E Eisenberg
Attorney: Nixon & Vanderhye P.C.
Application Number: 12/119,037
International Classification: A61M 37/00 (20060101); A61M 1/00 (20060101);